Thursday, April 30, 2009

Lit Circle #3 p. 4

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Progression (Nicole): By Cutie accepting a new "Higher form of master" and also says robots are a new species, and are a higher form of "life". The artificial positronic brains are the highest form of AI ever introduced, and then these brains are taken further in two steps. The first is the ability to connect to other positronic brains, and control that robot as extra digits. The other is result of a mistake, and Herbie's positronic brain is able to infiltrate the wave-lengths of other real human brains.

Obsolescence (Jacob): In the little lost robot Nestor 10 recognizes his ability to escape, and even though it was following an order, it realizes that worthlessly giving up his life for a human he cannot save, is unnecessary and wasteful, and he could save a human in the future. He can also coerce the other robots to disobey the 3 laws, based off of his modified version of them, and this allows the robots to not properly do their job, and hindered Dr. Calvin's search for Nestor 10.

Rebellion (Jordan): Robbie is the first example of rebellion, by giving up his normal robot action due to his unnatural and strong caring for Gloria. Due to this unnatural action, he no longer follows his proper duties, and is the first example of robotic attachment, which at the time, is rebellion of both Robbie and Gloria. Donovan rebels by believing that robots may be sinister, and are at fault for many unfortunate occurrences. Cutie was the ultimate rebellion by accepting a new master and believing that he was a higher form of life. When Nestor 10 makes an attempt to harm Calvin, that is an extreme example of this motif, and is something never heard of in the past.

Humanity (KC): Humanity, in the book, collapses upon itself due to the expansion of the idea, because of robots becoming aware of their own existence and believing they are living beings. Due to this and their human attributes, the robots expand the idea of humanity, and cause it collapse upon itself, must like the Romans after too drastic expansion.

Law (Bronson the Great): Robbie: Robbie interprets the law in a slightly different way by obeying Gloria more than her parents which should be considered higher figures of authority, but due to his feelings for Gloria, he listens to her more. Runaround: This is a large example of interpretation and problems within the laws. Speedy's third law potential was increased, and the human order and the need for self preservation reached an equilibrium throwing Speedy into a state of "drunkness" and causing him to just go into circles and does not end this state until he is required to save Powell due to the first law.Reason: Cutie has a very distinct interpretation of the laws, and felt that he cannot let the humans into the control room because he can better control the beams, therefore not allowing for anger upon an Earth he did not believe in. He also ignored the second law due to his self awareness and his belief in the "master" as well as being compelled to lock them out based on the first law.Catch That Rabbit: This was one of the few chapters not involving a different idea of the laws. Liar!: Herbie has an idea of the first law that no other robot can ever experience to due to no understanding of or capability to show emotions. But because Herbie has mind reading abilities, he understand how emotions can cause pain, and therefore lies compulsively so he does not hurt anyone. In the end, Herbie overloads because if he does not give an equational answer it would hurt two scientists, but f he did it would also hurt them, and therefore he could not make a choice and overloaded.Little Lost Robot: Nestor 10 had a modified idea of the first law, and it did not include "through inaction allow humans to come to harm" and because of that difference, he did not have to follow basic robot rules, allowing him to almost harm Dr. Calvin, and also for him to not save a human, and convince other robots to do the same, due to a disturbed interpretation of the first law.

What all of these laws represent is a basic moral code that humans follow in order to be properly moral, but it is broken by the new "species" as it is by humans, further expanding upon the problems in the robot community.

Today we discussed the different motifs found in the book. We also discussed where each motif was found in the book.

Sacrifice (Hannah) - Throughout the book, Marcus has had to make sacrifices in order to fight for what he believes in. He has had to give-up his privacy, since he is now being tracked and monitored by his government. Marcus has also had to sacrifice many relationships with his friends and his family. He can no longer trust his government, or anyone else around him. Marcus has also given up his innocence after finding out how his government is really operating.

Rebellion (Courtney) - Rebellion is another motif found numerous times in this book. Marcus rebels against his school and constantly defies the system. He is often sneaking out, cracking codes, and trying to step around the boundaries that society has set for him. He also rebels against the Department of Homeland Security after he is first captured. At first, he refuses to unlock anything for them and scarcely answers any of the questions that are directed at him. Marcus also rebels against his government by forming the Xnet, in an attempt to take them down and release his community from their power.

Courage (Margo) - Marcus and his friends are very courageous. The day of the attack, they all snuck out of school, with the risk of being caught, just to play one of their favorite games. They started using the Xnet, which is completely private and hidden to the government, in order to start a movement in hopes of changing their country. Marcus and Ange attend the “Don’t Trust Anyone over 25” concert, which is an illegal gathering and risk getting arrested. The main characters demonstrate courage throughout this book.

After discussing our motifs, we began to talk about our final presentation. We printed off the 9th grade curriculum guide and began to look through it.

Confusion (Kaitlyn)- Marcus is extremely confused about the whole situation that he's in. He is confused about the government and who the real enemy is. He's confused about how the constitution is being ignored.

Technology (Molly)- Marcus and Jolu are using technology to take down the DHS. Marcus is also going against technology by using it against itself.. Technology is really everywhere in the book.

Terror (Michelle)- the experience of the bombing on San Francisco and the fear arising around the bombings. Marcus and the other Xnetters are terrorising the DHS and through that, they are terrorising the people of San Fancisco.

Culture (Me...Ruth)- the resaraunts (the burrito joint in particular) are part of the culture, this is a normal thing. Concerts and parties are a common thing as well as violence. PDA is a common thing at concerts and other places. Cabs are also a very common thing in San Francisco.

The three motifs chosen in our lit. circle were Law, Logic, and Technology.

Technology-

Technology is a motif seen on almost every page throughout the book. In every chapter there is an example of some kind of technological advancement unheard of in today's world. Although this is a common theme in most science fiction books, it is very prevalent in I Robot. Some specific examples of technology are the robots themselves, "positronic brains", "jet-cars", space stations on Mercury, etc.

The motif "law" is applicable in almost every chapter of the book thus far. It is seen in the chapter "Runaround" when the robot named Speedy is caught in a situation where two laws contradict themselves and thus is seen "running around" because he cannot make one decision without breaking one of the laws. In I Robot the laws can be interpreted as symbols for proper morals that humans should follow.

Logic-

Logic is another motif seen especially in the chapters concerning "Powell and Donavon". Their job is to troubleshoot and debug faulty robots. In the three chapter they are in, the two workers use logic and problem solving skills to figure out the problems with the robots. A theme seen within the problem solving parts of the book is that the simplest answer is almost always the correct.

Secrets (Alex): The government keeps secrets from the people such as facts about the war, the past, and the brotherhood. Also by not allowing them to meet foreigners other secrets are kept.

Power (Paul H): The government has the power to make the people hate the brotherhood. It has the power to retain certain knowledge from the people and make them believe something different. They also have the power to make the people fear the thought police and to adore Big Brother.

Government (Trey): The government controls the people, what they do and what they think. The government is the leader and controller. If the people are doing something that is considered wrong then the government is there to stop them.

Desire (Kyle): The citizens have many desires such as the desire to please Big Brother, the desire to hate the brotherhood, and the desire to be at war with Eurasia. There are also other desires such as the one that Winston has for Julia.